Ever since the Hood Canal Bridge connected the north Kitsap and Olympic
Peninsulas, local touts have been describing the south canal as “The Forgotten
Fjord”. If that’s so, the stream of cottages, motels, restaurants, gas
stations, taverns and lounges must be a minor case of Recovered Memory
Syndrome. While the frequent townlets wherever the terrain flattens can
interrupt your rhythm at the southern end, you’re rarely far from a memorable
section of steep, treed cliffs screwing the road against the salt water’s edge
or an evocative, scenic tableau across a river delta. But the road’s most
indelible section may be when it heads inland at the northern end in a remote,
winding trip through the heavily treed mountain slopes of the Olympic National
Forest. Whether or not others have truly “forgotten” this DH, one thing’s for
certain: you won’t.